looking forward

Today, you read to your dad's poetry class. You read three poems from a book you got for your birthday and "The Kraken," by Tennyson. You were a big hit, and not very nervous at all. We were very proud of you. This was not quite as exciting as the discovery yesterday that a first grader has moved in across the hall. We spent the previous weekend in Prattville with Clay and Maggie and Cason (and Grace) and had a really good time.

Recent Accomplishments

You took your first steps on June 18, 2005 at Joe and Kelli Keener's apartment, between the couch and the coffee table. Now you're offically a toddler and love to color whatever is in reach with your washable crayons. You can point out your eyes, nose, teeth, hair, hands and toes when asked to. You will even condescend to occasionally say "eye." This past weekend you sat through almost all of "Muppets In Space." Your favorite part of Bugs Bunny cartoons is the music at the beginning and the end. The biggest news is that after eighteen months, you are sleeping in your own bed! Every night we put you in your pajamas and around nine we tell you it's time for bed, and you cry (while at the same time, walking towards and climbing into your bed). Daddy and I talk to you and arrange you and your toys. We read Goodnight Moon (thanks, Carrie!) a couple of times turn off the light and leave you to your own devices. We have to check on you a few times and you cry and attempt to get out of bed, but you get right back into bed when we tell you to. Dana, your daycare provider, says you are her best behaved baby. Every day she tells me how good you have been. Your favorite book is Go, Dog, Go. (thanks, Genny) You will carry it around the house, when you want to be read to, chanting gogogogogo. It is very cute.

Daycare

Today was your first day in daycare. I waited three hours to call and check on you, and when I did, you were asleep. In a crib. Which you never do for me. So I'm holding out the hope that daycare will be good for you. That it will allow you to stretch in ways that we, your parents can't. And that they will not feed you lead filled paint chips. The ladies at the daycare marveled at how good you were, and how pretty. They even called me to let me know that you had scratched yourself with your fingernail. But you were fine. You came home very tired and a little bit cranky. But all in all it was a very good first day. For all of us.

Introduction

Hi Lily. (And friends of Lily.)

This is your baby book. As much as I can manage, here is where I'm keeping down what you are like as a baby and what we, as your parents, are going through. Rather than try to put them in a book and lose the book and forget what happened, here it is safe on the internet where it can embarrass you for years. But I thought it would be good to have one central resource for whay the three of us are going through together so that everyone who is interested can find out, when they want to, rather than me dragging on and on about teething or mashed banana or whatever. I'll try to periodically update it on big things that have happened to you and our family in the past, too, so that you know what you've missed out on so far and are all caught up. And, of course, there will be little parenty soapboxes that I'll probably want to stick in about politics or manners or something. In five and a half months, we've become fairly good at understanding one anothers needs and this is just another extension of that.